


baby pink

by xuxikr



Series: One Month, One Fic: 2019 [6]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Cats, Dogs, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Polyamory, Renjun is a pet groomer, Romance, jaemin has a dog, jeno has a cat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-03-07 20:54:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18881065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xuxikr/pseuds/xuxikr
Summary: Renjun’s work at the pet grooming salon isn’t eventful but it’s a lazy day at the beginning of March when his usually uneventful working days start to become more interesting.





	baby pink

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this in two sittings... and it basically happened because i thought my dog needed a visit to the grooming salon.... it's my first published norenmin one shot so ;w; hope u like it <3

Renjun’s work at the pet grooming salon isn’t eventful—save for the times when a dog gets too excited and pushes him off his feet, or when a cat decides the best spot to hide is at the top of their highest shelf (being vertically challenged has given Renjun slight disadvantage, but Renjun is a man of challenges). It’s mostly routine, him manning the counter and there are times when he does the grooming work.

He likes his job, his boss, Kun and co-workers Sicheng and Ten are nothing but understanding to his student status. Kun has been hesitant to hire him because of his student status, but perseverance and understanding Mandarin has gotten him this far in his career.

It’s a lazy day at the beginning of March when his usually uneventful working days start to become more interesting.

He’s skimming through a pet magazine that advertises outlandish dog houses and even more outrageous pet clothes. He doesn’t really like these magazines, and he doesn’t know why Kun’s subscribed to them monthly but it goes for a nice decoration at the salon’s lobby.

Just as Renjun’s about to go crazy at the two-storey dog house which the page twelve of the magazine advertises, the bell at the front door chimes and Renjun shuts the magazine, tucking it underneath the counter and putting on his best customer service smile.

“Hi,” his words fall flat, and for a moment, his mouth hangs open as he realizes who the customer is, all beige pants and cream sweater, “how may I help you?”

It’s Lee Jeno. Jeno doesn’t know him, or at least Renjun thinks he doesn’t, but he’s shared two classes with Jeno since the beginning of his undergraduate career and to put it frankly, Renjun has the biggest, hopeless crush on him.

Hopeless, because Jeno’s rumoured to have a boyfriend. Hopeless, because Jeno has been his classmate for a year but he still doesn’t know his na—

“Oh! Renjun! So nice to meet you here!” Jeno beams, all eye smiles and warmth that almost makes it look as if flowers are growing out of his chest.

Renjun’s stumped for a moment, taking in what just happened—Jeno knows him, and without looking at his nametag at that. Jeno knows him. Jeno is _aware_ of his presence.

But he gathers himself quickly enough before it gets embarrassing, eyes darting to the baby pink pet carrier Jeno’s lugging into the shop. “Yeah, I’ve worked here for some months now—are you here for a grooming?”

Baby pink. It’s a cute color.

Jeno steps closer to him now, putting the carrier on the counter and Renjun swallows and Jeno’s scent wafts in the air. _He smells so good_ , Renjun thinks. _Stop being creepy,_ Renjun berates.

“Yeah, yeah! This—” Jeno gestures to the carrier and Renjun peers inside, meeting eye to eye with a pretty Ragdoll cat. Cat. Jeno has a cat. It’s fitting, somehow. “This is Chuseok, yeah—I know, don’t give me that look, Renjun.”

Renjun laughs to himself, shaking his head as he takes out the clipboard of forms for Jeno to sign. “Don’t worry, I’ve heard people call their cats Mr. Destroyer, it’s not the worst—it’s cute, really.

Jeno smiles at the compliment towards his cat, and if Renjun isn’t seeing this incorrectly, there’s slight pink that dusts the apples of Jeno’s cheeks. Interesting. “Mr. Destroyer is a cool name, gotta give it to them though. But anyway, Chuseok’s been scratching at our furniture, we tried to get her a scratching post to stop it but she won’t even pay it attention. So we looked it up, and thought maybe she could get her nails trimmed a little? And also, do you guys have those like… nail cap thingies? In baby pink? Don’t ask why, please. And oh—we think she needs a little hair cut too.”

Renjun lists down all of Jeno’s request in the form as Jeno speaks, but Renjun’s takeaway from Jeno’s tirade about Chuseok is his constant usage of ‘we’. Must be the boyfriend, Renjun thinks and wills his feelings away. “So a nail trim and nail caps, plus a haircut. How do you want her haircut to be?”

Jeno ponders it over for a second, as Renjun looks at the cat through the little door of the carrier. She doesn’t seem too pleased with being at the grooming salon.

“Whatever you think is proper, you have good taste.”

Renjun lifts his eyes from the form to Jeno, brow raised in confusion and he can’t help the sound he lets out. Jeno seems to understand this, and splutters his next explanation, flustered. “Oh! It’s just, you know, we were classmates for that Art History class? Your tastes on art seem exceptional, I don’t doubt your judgement.”

This time, it’s Renjun’s turn to be flustered. He does get a little bit heated when it comes to class discussions, and nothing can stop Renjun from participating, especially when it involves the things he’s always been passionate about.

“I’m flattered.” Renjun smiles, biting the inside of his cheeks to stop him from smiling too wide. “Well, I just need you to sign these forms and we’re good to go.”

Jeno takes the forms and signs them, breaking eye contact. The Ragdoll meows in her carrier, nudges the door a little and Renjun laughs as Jeno panics at Chuseok’s impatience.

“Can I watch?” Jeno asks, handing the signed forms back to Renjun. Renjun files it accordingly.

Renjun nods, there’s a viewing area for owners, after all. “Sure, but it’ll take about three hours. Are you fine with waiting that long?”

In no time at all, Jeno responds. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll wait.”

 

Jeno does indeed wait. He sits at the viewing area, taking multiple photos of Chuseok as she gets her first haircut. Although Jeno has his warnings, Chuseok is absolutely lovely to Renjun. She’s behaved when Renjun needs her be, and sometimes, she even demands to be pet.

Renjun’s focused at his job, making sure Chuseok looks the absolute cutest and up to the standard of the grooming salon, but it’d be a lie to say that he doesn’t steal a glance or two at her, perhaps, even cuter owner.

When Renjun glances at Jeno, he’s smiling at his phone, laughing at something before typing away into the screen.

Hopeless, Renjun has a hopeless crush.

 

Renjun isn’t much of a social media person, but he still has them just to connect with family back home. He uses Instagram, mostly, and Facebook just to check up on relatives and which one of his older cousins has a new kid this year.

He’s lying sideways on his bed, tucked underneath his too heavy sheets with his phone dying at 5%. Renjun has a bad habit of draining his phone down to the very last percentage. It’s whatever.

And then.

 

 **Lee Jeno** _sent a friend request.  
_Confirm | Delete

If Jeno insists, who is he to resist?

 

 **Lee Jeno** _is waving at you!_

 **Lee Jeno**  
hi

 **Huang Renjun**  
hi jeno  
how’s chuseok doing?

 **Lee Jeno**  
she’s doing great, she loves the nail caps and the hair cut btw  
[IMAGE]

 **Huang Renjun**  
omg… that’s adorable  
tell her i said hi

 **Lee Jeno**  
i will ^w^

 **Huang Renjun**  
^^

 **Lee Jeno**  
sorry for messaging u at this hour lol  
hope i didn’t wake u up

 **Huang Renjun**  
it’s okay  
i wasn’t asleep anyway

 **_Jeno_ ** _is typing…_

Renjun’s phone dies on him before he sees what Jeno has sent.

He groans as he forces his way out of bed, struggling to find his charger in the dark and plugs it into the socket by his bedside drawer. He doesn’t wait for it to open, because as much as Renjun enjoys the excitement talking with Jeno brings, he still has to be on campus early tomorrow.

Renjun blacks out then.

 

Sometime in April, when the first episode of the Season 8 of Game of Thrones is released, Donghyuck asks Renjun to marathon the entire Season 7 with him. Renjun denies him at first, insists that he has to go to work early tomorrow because he’s standing in for Sicheng who’s going back to China to visit family—but Donghyuck has a way with persuasion that even Renjun succumbs to it.

That’s why, sometime in the middle of April, Renjun runs late for work.

The grooming salon comes into view and Renjun goes in through the backdoor. Kun scolds him as Ten hands him his apron with pockets full of grooming tools. He apologizes to Kun, bows profusely and tells him it’s never going to happen again as he secures the apron in a knot behind his waist.

In his station, there’s a Samoyed dog waiting for him. Ten informs him that his name’s Daengie, and his owner, named Jaemin is coming to watch him get groomed in about thirty minutes. Renjun halts at the familiar name, but _that_ Jaemin isn’t the only Jaemin in South Korea. It’s a common name, after all.

Renjun goes about his routine, acquainting with Daengie comes easy as the dog is otherworldly friendly. He lies on his back, waiting to be petted when Renjun reaches out his hand to pat the back of his ears. _Oh, it’s a cute one, alright._

Exactly thirty minutes into his work, once he’s finished drying Daengie and about to start on his haircut— _that_ Jaemin comes into view, sitting at the viewing area and locking eyes with Renjun.

It’s not much, and it’s just _nothing_ —but the way Jaemin’s face lights up in a smile when he sees him handling Daengie, sends Renjun the biggest wave as if he has just landed from a flight at the airport, make the tips of Renjun’s ears burn as he tries to avoid eye contact.

Jaemin… is… well, Jaemin. He’s only crossed paths with Jaemin because they’re running similar paperwork for their university organizations, and spending time with the other at the student affairs offices has given Renjun quite the experience with Jaemin.

Because Jaemin _likes_ flustering Renjun, he likes making Renjun fumble, likes seeing him blush and Renjun is helpless but to act like he hates it. He’s not _irked_ by it, he’s not _annoyed_ by Jaemin but more than that, he’s annoyed at the way he’s making him feel. Like he’s a stupid fourteen-year-old with a crush.

But Jaemin is like that to everyone he meets, way too nice, gives out compliments that can be easily misinterpreted for something else. And plus, Jaemin has a rumoured girlfriend that he lives with—and Daengie is probably _their_ dog. Renjun doesn’t want to get his hopes up, Jaemin just likes messing with him. That’s all.

At least, that’s what he makes himself believe.

Only now, hyperaware of Jaemin’s presence and never leaving stare, does Renjun notice Daengie’s baby pink collar. He almost rolls his eyes at how painfully characteristic it is of Jaemin to give his pet a pink collar.

For someone who exudes the energy of a thousand suns and ethereal brightness, it’s only right for Jaemin to love pink, of all colors.

 

When he’s done with Daengie, Jaemin meets him at the reception area with the biggest smile on his face. Half of his smile is face, and Renjun finds that oddly charming.

“Here’s your baby boy.” Renjun jokes, handing the leash to Jaemin and Daengie leaps up on him, standing on two feet and waiting for Jaemin to carry him.

Jaemin does it, coos at the Samoyed and peppers it with infinite number of kisses. Dog owners are really, usually like this to their dogs, treating it like their actual babies but it makes Renjun smile nonetheless. Jaemin and his heart full of love.

“Thank you, Injunnie. You’re so good at this.” Jaemin sets down the Samoyed now, and Renjun laughs at the amount of fur Daengie has left upon Jaemin’s black pants. Ten’s at the counter, looking at him through quick glances but he knows his ears are listening in on this conversation actively.

He needs to be careful if he doesn’t want to be teased endlessly.

“Here,” Renjun reaches out from behind the counter, grabs the lint roller and hands it to Jaemin, “your pants.”

“Oh,” Jaemin seems flustered, accepting the lint roller and reaching down to roll it down the expanse of his legs. Renjun tries not to stare, Jaemin has legs for days, and the skinny jeans aren’t one bit shy of showcasing them.

Renjun swallows.

“I didn’t know you’d be the one doing Daengie.” Jaemin regains his confidence again, handing Renjun the lint roller with a small thank you.

“Well, I didn’t even know you know I worked here.” Renjun retorts.

Jaemin’s shoulders come up in a shrug, Daengie lying down on the tiled floor. “A friend told me.”

“So you’re stalking me?” Renjun challenges, a smirk forms at the side of his lips at how he has the upper hand in this conversation. With Jaemin, it rarely happens, it’s usually Jaemin making Renjun at lost for words—but this time, it’s Jaemin who struggles with his next reply.

It’s oddly satisfying.

“I, well—no, I’m not. I came here for grooming purposes only.” He says crossing his arms over his chest, chin tilted up.

Renjun shakes his head, mirroring Jaemin’s actions and putting his weight on one foot. He sees Ten look at them. “Sure, whatever you say, Jaemin.” Renjun’s not really expecting that Jaemin would be here for _him._ His head isn’t that up his own ass. But with the way Jaemin responds to him with easy flirtatiousness, it’s not hard to be confident.

“Daengie likes you, you know that?”

“It’s my superpower.”

“Well,” Jaemin looks at Daengie, then to Renjun who’s awaiting his next reply. Suddenly, somehow, he doesn’t want Ten to listen on to this conversation. “I think it is, you’re easy to like.”

Renjun furrows his brows now, masking his smile with a frown. “Pets. I mean pets like me easily. It’s my superpower—like I can talk to animals.”

Jaemin cocks a brow now. “I meant what I said. You’re easy to like.”

Ten clears his throat.

“Anyway, I’ll have to get going. Thanks for taking care of Daengie, I’ll be back next month!”

When Jaemin exits the parlor, Ten doesn’t waste any time teasing Renjun.

 

Dealing with a curious Ten, a pressing Sicheng and a boss who pretends he doesn’t care but does is pretty exhausting. There’s nothing between him and Jaemin, but Ten doesn’t seem to believe that.

So when Renjun gets home, he wants to do nothing but pass out in bed and wake up early next morning for class. But that doesn’t go according to plan, because the little notification that drops down on his phone screen as he battles Donghyuck out in PUBG flashes Jaemin’s name and he’s embarrassed to admit he’s a bit too eager to press down on it, ignoring Donghyuck’s whines.

 

 **Na Jaemin**  
hi cutie 😉  
thanks for today  
i had fun heh

 **Huang Renjun**  
i’m ignoring u

 **Na Jaemin**  
:’((( but whyyyyyy  
injunniiiieeee daengiiieeee looks so cute  
do u wanna see him rn!!!!

 **Huang Renjun**  
the only reason why i haven’t blocked you  
is daengie  
send me ten photos, no more no less

 **Na Jaemin**  
of daengie?

 **Huang Renjun**  
._.  
who else

 **Na Jaemin**  
of me, perhaps?

 **Huang Renjun  
**i’ll block you

 **Na Jaemin**  
feisty… i like it  
[IMAGE]

 

Jaemin does send him ten images of Daengie in various angles, various places. They’re all funny photos of Daengie, in different poses. He’s quite the photogenic puppy but one particular photo catches his eye. It’s a photo of Daengie, lying in between the legs of someone with beige pants. From the photo, it appears to be taken by Jaemin while Daengie is sleeping in between someone’s legs. The beige pants are oddly familiar.

His phone dies on him before he gets to conclude anything about it.

 

He’s created an unlikely friendship with Jeno through their Facebook messages. Jeno sends him cat memes and Renjun reacts to it with the angry emoji every time. Jeno tries to be funny, and he is, but Renjun isn’t going to admit that. Jeno is consistent too, always sending good morning text messages, asking him what happened to his day—it’s easy to get used to this. And frankly, Renjun is already used to it.

Jaemin hasn’t changed, and if anything, he’s only become flirtier every time they meet on campus. And despite not knowing where this bravery is coming from, Renjun flirts back too. Even through messages, Jaemin doesn’t falter. It’s making his feelings sway, and he knows it’s not normal to feel like this for two people—but Renjun doesn’t plan on acting on any of these feelings anyway. He’ll just let himself feel it until they pass.

But of course, as he’s grown up to learn, the universe has very different plans for him.

Sometime during May, his world changes as he knows it.

It’s not a busy day and Renjun has busied himself with the May edition of the ridiculous magazine Kun still subscribes to. He makes a mental note to finally tell Kun that he’s not getting his money’s worth with this kind of magazine and there are far better alternatives to this. Like books maybe, or invest on a television set so pet owners can watch movies while they wait.

Renjun’s pulled away from his suggestions when the bell at the front door chimes.

The smile that stretches his face begins to falter when he sees who it is—or rather, who they are.

It’s Jaemin, carrying Chuseok’s baby pink carrier and right behind him, with the beige pants, is Jeno tugging Daengie along with a baby pink leash.

Baby pink. Beige pants. Jeno _and_ Jaemin.

Renjun feels foolish.

“Hi,” he manages to croak out when the pair reaches him at the counter, his best customer service smile on.

He wonders why he didn’t catch on earlier, why he didn’t see any photos of them together on Facebook, why it took him so long to correlate the baby pink carrier and baby pink collar. He wonders why he doesn’t feel jealous, only slightly left out, only slightly lonely.

“Hi Renjun.” It’s Jaemin that speaks first, all gregarious smiles and honey eyes. Renjun tries not to melt. _Get a grip_ , he tells himself.

“You guys are together?” He says this jokingly, taking out the forms for them to sign and pulling up Daengie’s and Chuseok’s record from the files.

Jeno and Jaemin share a tense look, before Jeno nods slowly. “We are…”

“Cool, cool.” Renjun mumbles under his breath, checking the forms with hasty expertise. “You guys look cute together.”

Renjun hands Jaemin the forms, tells him where to sign and focuses his attention instead at Chuseok who’s scratching at the carrier, begging to be let out. Jeno stands next to Jaemin awkwardly and Renjun feels his gaze on him.

It’s not his business, really. He shouldn’t be upset he didn’t know, but he is—and he feels a bit pathetic for feeling like this for people who are together. Jaemin and Jeno, Jeno and Jaemin. They paint a beautiful picture together.

“Just their usual trim, right?” Renjun asks them when Jaemin’s done with the forms. He doesn’t dare look at them.

Jaemin clears his throat. “Yes, just the usual.”

“Great! Sicheng’s working on Daengie and Ten’s working on Chuseok. Will that be alright?”

Jeno pipes up this time, all attention on him. “You? You’re not going to work on them?”

Renjun shakes his head, reaching out to pet Chuseok’s extended paw. Daengie is wagging his tail at him. “I’m on counter duty today, but don’t worry, Sicheng hyung and Ten hyung are far more talented than I am. Are you guys going to wait or are you just going to pick them up?”

Jaemin and Jeno hold hands behind them and Renjun feels a squeezing at his heart. They look beautiful together, and Renjun—well… he’s just… Renjun.

“We’re going to stay but—is it okay if we stay here, with you?” Jaemin asks and he’s never seen Jaemin look this vulnerable, this unsure, with his eyes wide with worry and eyebrows knotted together. Jeno’s sporting a similar expression, yet sharper around the edges.

Renjun’s breath hitches at their request. “Well I’m… working so… I can’t entertain you if customers come in, but you can sit if you want to hang around here.” He gestures to the couch across the counter. “Good?”

“Good.” They say, almost in unison.

Jeno and Jaemin find their spot at the couch, too next to each other with each other’s hands on the other’s thigh. It’s Ten that comes out to take their pets to the backroom for grooming, looking at Renjun with a confused glare at the presence of his two love interests at the lobby. Renjun just shakes his head at him, shushing him to stop further prodding.

Ten’s understanding, sometimes.

Almost ten minutes pass of utter silence, Jeno and Jaemin discussing amongst themselves as Renjun pretends to be busy rearranging unimportant papers at the counter.

Renjun is so confused, what do they even want with him? Why are they staying here and not watching their pets be groomed? It doesn’t make sense, everything that they’ve shown to him—everything that they’ve expressed to him—it doesn’t make sense. None of this do.

And then, Jaemin’s at the counter again—catching his attention with the slight smack of his hand against the wooden material of the counter.

“J-Jaemin, are you okay?” Renjun asks, almost dropping the old copies of the ridiculous magazine.

Jaemin shakes his head, face full of resolve. It reminds Renjun of the time an admin denied signing his papers, so Jaemin persuades him with the power he doesn’t know Jaemin has. “Go out with us, Renjun. And if you don’t like us, we’ll stay away.”

Renjun feels dizzy, he loses footing. But Jaemin’s reaching out, holding him by the wrist to stop his fall and Jeno’s sprinting right next to Jaemin. “Are you okay?” He asks, concerned.

Renjun tugs his wrist away from Jaemin, breathing heavy. His brain absolutely cannot take this information overload right now. “What? Are you—pardon my French, fucking with me?”

Jaemin puts his hand back down to his side, and Renjun doesn’t know where to look—at Jaemin, at Jeno. “You heard him right, Renjun. We want you to go out with us, we like you—the both of us.”

“Is this allowed? Is that allowed?”

Jaemin laughs a little at his reaction, but it’s all fondness and no insult to it. Renjun glares at him nonetheless. “It is, Renjun. Me and Jeno—we’ve always had crushes on you, I mean—for me, I’m pretty sure it’s obvious, you’re not that dense—my boyfriend here, Jeno… has a little bit of trouble expressing it.”

Yeah, he’s going insane. He’s not hearing this from Jaemin’s mouth right now. “Jeno, you’re okay with this? With Jaemin crushing on me? What the hell—why did neither of you tell me you were together?”

Jeno nods, small smile splayed upon sharp features. Renjun feels breathless. “I’ve got a crush on you too, you know? And I know it’s stupid that none of us told you but—we were looking for the perfect timing, and we thought this was it you know? We both like you, and our babies—Daengie and Chuseok liked you too, unsurprisingly. We thought—we thought it’s a sign, you know? To finally ask you out.”

The disbelief in Renjun’s chest is starting to unwind, stretching into something more familiar, more comfortable—it’s relief—and then it’s hope. “Oh god, I’m dreaming this. Please pinch me. Punch me, I don’t care.”

Jaemin laughs and reaches out to give him the lightest pinch on his cheek. “You are so adorable, Injunnie.”

Renjun doesn’t swat his hand away, and only looks stumped. “Then why didn’t I see any photos of you together on Facebook? I know we were mutual friends, but no photos together, seriously?”

Jeno explains. “Well… we usually post more on Instagram, but if you don’t like public displays of affection like that, we can adjust.”

Renjun blushes profusely. “Don’t—don’t adjust, to me.”

Jaemin’s hand on his cheek travels down until it’s holding his hand, Renjun doesn’t push away. Renjun is immensely thankful to the pet grooming salon gods that there aren’t any customers walking in on this right now. “But we’re willing to Injun, if you’d just give us a chance. You don’t have to answer now, but we’re saying this to you now… you can think it over, you can completely forget this happened—but our feelings for you, Injun. They’re real.”

Renjun looks at Jeno, then to Jaemin, then at Jeno again. “Well… ask me again.”

Jeno’s face breaks out into a smile, and Jaemin grins even wider than Renjun thinks it’s humanly able to.

Renjun doesn’t have to think about it—what does he have to lose, anyway? Maybe it’ll take some getting used to, having two _boyfriends_ but it’ll be a lie to say that he hasn’t thought about something like this during his late night fantasies.

Except now, it’s not a fantasy—and it’s real, and Jeno and Jaemin are asking him out.

“Will you go out on a date with us?” Jeno asks this time, Jaemin squeezes his hand.

Renjun can’t help his smile anymore, and he lets it bunch his cheeks up to his eyes. “Okay—after my shift ends. Can you wait until then?”

“We’ll wait as long as you need us to.” Jaemin says.

“I’ve waited three hours for Chuseok, I can wait longer for you.” Jeno adds.

 

 

Renjun has always liked pets but with his cheap apartment, it’s impossible to even begin imagining having one.

But now, about a year later since that March when Jeno came into the pet grooming salon, not only does Renjun have two pets—he also has two boyfriends that he’s officially moved in with.

Daengie welcomes him, wagging his tail and jumping at him. Daengie doesn’t know his strength, so it ends up with the both of them stumbling down on the floor, the puppy lapping up at Renjun’s face. “God! Daengie, that’s so gross!”

“Time out, give Injunnie a time out.” Jaemin’s voice comes into the living room, picking Daengie up away from Renjun and Renjun finally pushes himself up from the floor. He’s wet with slobbery dog saliva, and he wipes it with the back of his hand.

“I swear, he smells all those dogs on me.”

Jaemin lets go of Daengie, opens an arm out for Renjun to come into. Renjun welcomes himself into his boyfriend’s arms, tilting his head up to meet him half-way into a kiss. It’s short but sweet, and slightly intense—it overall feels like coming home. “Something good happened today! I finally convinced Kun to put a TV set in the reception area and stop the magazine subscription—wait, where’s Jeno?” He asks when they pull away, cutting his story short.

Daengie prods his way to the corner of the room, where he expects Jeno to be at. “You remember when you said you’ve always wanted a pet fish?”

Renjun makes a sound of confusion as Jaemin leads him, hand on his waist, following right after Daengie. “Yeah? That was almost a year ago… how’d you still remember that?”

“You’ve got two boyfriends, more brain cells, more likely to remember things.” Jaemin walks him to their kitchen, where he sees Jeno’s back working on finishing the set-up of a fish tank. Chuseok is sitting next to Jeno curiously, staring up at the contents of the fish tank with some sort of predatory glare to her eyes. Cats, always tiny tigers.

“No way…” Renjun says in disbelief, just as Jeno pulls away from the tank and opens his arms up for Renjun.

“Surprise!” Jeno exclaims and Renjun bumps headfirst against Jeno’s chest.

“You guys got me a fish?” He asks excitedly, eyes gleaming with glee as he presses a kiss to the underside of Jeno’s jaw. “No joke?”

“Baby, why would we joke about this?” Jaemin comments, pulling the two of them aside as Jeno leans down to kiss Renjun properly.

Then, Renjun finally sees it. It’s a beautiful fish tank, with one Flower Horn fish swimming around. Renjun takes note of the baby pink pebbles in the tank, the touch that is very Jaemin amongst the other decorations that are solely Jeno. The tank is a mix of their personalities, with Renjun’s favorite fish residing in it. It’s perfect in every way. “Oh no, it’s so cute!”

“He is, isn’t he?” Jeno coos, hand on Renjun’s waist. Jaemin joins them in the hug.

“What do you want to name him?” Jaemin asks.

“Um…” Renjun pauses for a second, looks at their pets by their feet, then glances from one boyfriend to another. “Thirdy?”

“Thirdy. Why thirdy?” Jeno asks.

“Because he’s the third. Like me.”

Jaemin laughs, and Jeno does too.

He’s part of a third, one that completes the whole—and like Thirdy completing their little family, Renjun has completed the puzzle that is Jeno and Jaemin. Jeno, Jaemin, and Renjun. It is like this from now on.

If a year ago, someone told Renjun that he’s going to be spending his life with two boyfriends and not one but _three_ pets, he’ll probably punch them in the face and kick them out of his immediate sight.

Now, it’s real. His uneventful job at the pet grooming salon has caused these wonderful events to fall on top of each other, he doesn’t expect his life would be like this—but everything falls in its perfect place, like how he falls in perfect place right in the middle of their cuddle pile every night.

It’s a lazy day at the beginning of March, when Renjun tells himself he’s in love.

**Author's Note:**

> p.s. idk shit about pet grooming other than the fact that my dog needs one asap so uh.. there might be some inaccuracies... i hope no one is against the nail caps thingies bc i heard it's better for the cats but some people dont like it?? but if u dont like it thats cool sdkjskdjs 
> 
> oh and i named jeno's cat chuseok because of his pets names like.. seol and nal... and the samoyed's name is from daegang.... i didnt wanna name him daegang so i went for daengie instead, jaemin seems like the person to give his pets cute names
> 
> lastly, there's a whole other version of this where jaemin and jeno are strangers to renjun but it just wasnt working out so i rewrote it, and it came pretty easily hehe
> 
> cc: [xuxikr](https://curiouscat.me/xuxikr)  
> twt: [@renduckie](https://twitter.com/renduckie)


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